Paving the Way – A Life of Service
Mark 10:35-45
Why should I serve?
I find greatness and fulfillment in service because
God Saved me to Serve
God Gifted me to Serve
God is Glorified when I Serve
God Blesses me when I Serve
Slide
Welcome.
If you are visiting with us today we are glad you are here. We are in the midst of a series called Paving the Way and we focusing on how we can be the church that God wants us to be.
Last week we talked about Stewardship and Sacrifice. We have some things that need to be done to our site and we saw how it would take all of us who call Hickory Creek their home to take steps of sacrifice to accomplish the things we believe the Lord is leading us to do.
Examples
After last week’s message, I talked to a few people about creative ways they thought of in being able to sacrifice so they could have more to give to this Paving the Way campaign.
One couple was going to be selling a car they had and going to one car instead of 2.
Another family was using some of the resources saved through the use of coupons toward the campaign.
If you have a come up with a creative way in your own family, share it with us so we might be able to help others think outside the box as well.
Introduction
For this week, I want to start out with a question.
Who wants to experience a great and fulfilled life?
Everyone does. Well that was easy.
Here is a tougher question.
How do you experience a great and fulfilled life?
People are continually searching for the good life.
We look for it everywhere.
Through accumulating pictures of dead presidents - cash
Through racking up relationships with the opposite sex - Sex
Through becoming the next American Idol - Fame
Through acquiring control of others – Power
Through having no responsibilities with our time or money
At retirement, many people are thinking that if I no longer have to serve “the man,” then I can find the good life with all of my free time.
Often, people find that they have worked and served all of their life to get to this point and it is not what they expected.
They have no sense of fulfillment. They find that while they may have some enjoyment some of the time, they do not sense that the things they are doing are fulfilling. That is why you see people past retirement age, when they could have free time, going back to work. They are continuing to look for that fulfillment that they thought they would find with their free time.
Well, we are not the only ones who want a great and fulfilled life. Some of the apostles did too.
Turn with me to
Mark 10:35-45
Slide
We are going to see that James and John wanted this and they wanted to be exalted and sit at the right and the left of Jesus.
But listen to what Jesus says to the Apostles about becoming truly great.
Mark 10:35-45
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."
36 "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
37 They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory."
38 "You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"
39 "We can," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."
41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Pray
Ok, so Jesus tells the apostles that
if you want to experience real fulfillment,
if you truly want to experience greatness.
then become a servant.
Doesn’t that seem counter intuitive? If you want to experience greatness, don’t we want to have servants, not become a servant? This seems so wrong. At least the world tells us that it is wrong.
We often believe what the world says, though.
But believing what the world says has brought a lot of heartache and headaches into our life.
We need to realize that it is the very word of God that is going to lead us in the path of righteousness and fulfillment and it is this that we want to follow.
So, let’s try and discern what the Bible says about why being a servant is the path to a great and fulfilling life. We are going to look at several different Scriptures today in a more systematic way to see what the Bible says on this topic.
First, one of the reasons I find that I should be serving and why it will bring fulfillment is because
God Saved me to Serve
Slide
Ephesians 2:10 - For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Did you know the very reason that God doesn’t just take us up to heaven when we trust Him as Savior is to do good works and I will tell you that any good work we do by His power and for His glory will be in the service of people in some way.
1 Timothy 6:17 tells us that “God…richly provides everything for our enjoyment.”
He has created things to serve us in some way. Now ultimately it is for His glory, but it glorifies Him to create things that will benefit the pinnacle of His creation, the human race.
The same goes for us. We glorify God when we do the things He has created us to do so that in some way they will serve people.
Being a doctor serves people
Protecting the environment is of benefit to people
Being a painter is not just to cover walls, but is for the benefit and pleasure of people
Being a pastor would not be good if all it was to take care of a building that nobody used or was ministered to in.
Good works are works that serve people and God has given us purpose in doing good works and serving others.
Since this is the purpose that He has given us, to do good by serving others, why do we find it surprising that we find fulfillment in serving others.
I will tell you that because He has given us purpose in our salvation to serve others, we will never find true fulfillment until we start serving.
We have been saved to serve.
Secondly, I find fulfillment in serving because
God Gifted me to Serve
Slide
1 Peter 4:10 - Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
Not only has God given me purpose in being a servant, He has enabled me to do it by giving me gifts.
Now we know that all of us do not have the same gift.
But as we use our gifts as part of the body of Christ, we serve people.
In 1 Corinthians 12, it tells us that God has given us all of these different gifts to make one body out of them so that we can be more effective in serving people.
Our gifts are of greater benefit when used in conjunction with other gifts.
We talked about this last month when we were talking about the gifts of the Spirit.
As we each use our gift in the context of the Body of Christ, we serve others by
Ministering to their needs
Proclaiming the good news of Jesus
Providing an environment to help them grow in their faith
So they can experience the great and fulfilling life
You have been saved to serve and gifted to serve and use your gifts as part of the body of Christ.
And as we do serve, it leads to the third reason that I will find fulfillment in serving.
Because
God is Glorified when I Serve
Slide
This would be our ultimate purpose, to bring glory to God.
When we serve, we are being more Christ like, because as the text in Mark tells us, Christ came to serve.
When our character is becoming like the character of Christ, we bring glory to God.
That character transformation is called bearing fruit.
We see in Galatians that the fruit of the Spirit are character traits that should be evident in our life.
Galatians 5:22-23 - 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.
And Jesus tells us in
John 15:8 - This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit
When we are bearing fruit, we are becoming more Christ like. Part of being more like Christ would be to be a servant like He was.
It is to the Father’s glory that we serve like Christ.
Application
So, are you glorifying God by being a servant like Christ?
I will guarantee that you are not finding real fulfillment if you are not.
He has given you a purpose in serving and gifted you to serve and when you do those things you glorify God.
A few minutes ago, we talked about how God wants you serving as part of the body of Christ. We do that as part of a local church.
If you are a believer in Christ, you are called to become part of a local church to use the gifts that God has given you. It does not need to be this church, this body, but definitely some body.
And this doesn’t mean that we have got to be doing everything.
None of us can do everything and when we try it leads not to fulfillment, but to burn out.
No, we aren’t called to do everything, but we are called to serve in some way.
Application
Where are you serving?
Maybe you are here and thinking, I don’t know where to serve.
Well, I want you to pull out the insert in your bulletin that says “Service Commitment form”
On this form, on both the front and the back, are listed all kinds of serving opportunities.
Now just like with the financial commitment form that you got last week, and is also available in the bulletin again this week, we are asking you to take that home and be praying about where the Lord would have you use your gifts and to serve in the body of Christ.
This is a major part of what this Paving the Way Campaign is all about. It is about being the body of Christ…Sacrificing together, serving together, glorifying God together.
Now this is only for those who are not serving yet or who want to serve in something more you are not serving in currently
For example, if you are already serving by helping stack and set up our chairs, don’t check this off. We are going to be getting these to all the ministry leaders so they can contact you and give you further details about the responsibilities involved and set up a time when you can try out serving in that ministry.
If you find that a particular ministry you try is not for you, fine, try something else.
We are not locking you in so you cannot get out. We want to be a help to you in finding that place where you can serve, and glorify God.
But not only does God receive glory when I serve, but
God Blesses me when I Serve
Slide
We are blessed in eternity when we serve the Lord
Colossians 3:23-24
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving
And Paul tells us
Slide
Ephesians 6:7-8
7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does
We are going to receive rewards in heaven and as we serve the Lord by serving people.
But we are also blessed along the way as we serve.
Paul tells the Ephesian elders when he is departing from them to work hard in helping those who are weaker, who need to be ministered to, because “It is more blessed to give than receive.” (Acts 20:35)
There are times when serving is going to be hard work, but we serve and we help the weak or those whom the Lord has placed in our lives, we will receive blessing and rewards.
Serving others in Christ’s love and strength for His glory, leads to
rewards in eternity and
blessings and fulfillment in this life.
And as Paul said “it is more blessed to give than receive” part of the blessing is knowing how our service has blessed others.
We have so many at Hickory Creek that have been such a blessing to others in their service. Our ministry leaders, our servants. I praise the Lord for each of you.
I want to highlight one particular person who has been such a blessing to so many at Hickory Creek over the past 5 years.
L-J Dorey
L-J Dorey has served as our Little Sparks Nursery ministry leader for the past 5 years. She has served our kids and parents so well during this time.
L-J is stepping back from this position due to some problems with her foot and her need to be going to therapy to hopefully avoid surgery.
I just want to have L-J come up and thank her for how she has served the Lord and pray for healing for her and that she would not need surgery and pray that as she is healed she can be back again serving in our Little Sparks nursery.
L-J come up, pray for her
Conclusion
Are you experiencing the blessing of giving to others through your service?
Are you experiencing a great and fulfilled life?
Jesus said “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Mark 10:43)
I know that there are probably people here today that have been searching for the great life by being selfish, thinking only about themselves.
Life will be great if I can do whatever I want.
I will be fulfilled if I concern myself with only the things I want.
Don’t believe the lie. Life will be great and fulfilled as you serve others as Christ served by going to the cross.
There are many paradoxes in Scripture.
The first will be last (Matthew 20:16)
If you lose your life for Christ’s sake you will find it. (Matthew 16:25)
When I am weak then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)
To be great, become a servant.
There are some here today, whom this may be the first time they are hearing something like this.
Maybe you have been searching and looking for this great life.
Even though we have talked about finding it through service, you cannot find it apart from serving in the power of Jesus Christ.
There is no fulfillment, no great life
apart from being in a relationship with the Savior of the world.
Without serving in His strength and power, for His glory, your service will be in vain.
If you have never received Jesus Christ as your Savior, I want to give you that opportunity right now
The Bible tells us in John 1:12 that we receive Jesus by believing in Him.
That is not just in believing that He exists, but by believing in our heart, with all of who we are, the truth about
Who He is, and what He did and our need for Him.
Romans 10:9 tells us that, “if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” NIV
By confessing your real belief that Jesus is Lord, that He is God who put on flesh and came to this earth to die and pay the price for your sins, and that he rose from the dead, you will be saved.
That is how we enter into that relationship with Him and are then able to serve in His power, for His glory, and truly live a great and fulfilled life.
I am going to pray and if you want to receive Christ, and you truly believe that He is God and died for you and rose again, then just pray along with me and confess that belief to the Lord.
Pray.
If you did that today, tell someone about what you did. Tell us so we can rejoice with you that you are part of the family of God. We want to be able to encourage you and help you in your next step.
Baptism, according to the Bible should be one of our very first steps after receiving Christ as Savior. If you have never been immerse baptized and you have received Christ as Savior, and you want to be baptized, we are doing some after our second service. Talk to me and we can arrange that today. I have some clothes you can where and a towel for you.
Otherwise, we are going to close in worship this morning.
Let’s worship the one who has blessed us so and has saved us and gifted us to serve him and find fulfillment and a truly great life.
